


Take A Deep Breath

by agent00ebil



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Academy Era, M/M, Star Trek: Into Darkness Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-02
Updated: 2013-07-05
Packaged: 2017-12-13 17:18:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/826816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agent00ebil/pseuds/agent00ebil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James T. Kirk needed an elective class and what better class than one where he's the only guy? That is, until he meets the professor of his class. Professor Harrison is sure he's being punished by Admiral Marcus when his latest teaching assignment is handed over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this story is to fill [this prompt](http://strek-id-kink.livejournal.com/1695.html?thread=328607#t328607) at the strek-id-kink lj-community

“Bones! Bones! Guess who just signed up for a medical class! This is going to be so awesome; you’ve got to take it too!” Jim burst into their shared dorm with a shit-eating grin. Leonard grabbed the PADD out of his hand.

“Jim, hate to break this to you, _that_ is not a medical class”

“It IS, it totally is! I was in the medbay – “

Leonard narrowed his eyes at Jim, scanning for any possible problem.

“ – Don’t give me that look, Bones, Cupcake was a little overbaked today. No big deal – you should have seen him when I was done with him – “

Leonard reached up and rubbed his temple thinking, “ _that boy had no sense of self-preservation”_ out loud starting his protests, “Jim –“

“Not now, Bones, the medbay’s nothin’. So, there I was, dermal regenerator working it’s magic and these two smoking hotties walked by talking about how they had to take this class for their major – _see, it is a medical class, it’s –required- and everything –“_

“For _nurses_ Jim – “

“Still. Medical. -  and did I mention they were smokin’ hot? So I checked the class, and the class registrar is _all girls_. _Girls,_ Bones, you know, two legs and curves from head to toe – “

“Jim, I know what girls are –“

“And so I thought to myself, these ladies need James T. Kirk in their life, and James T. Kirk needs an elective credit”

Leonard rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath, “James T. Kirk needs another psych eval if he’s going to keep talking in third person –"

“Heard that Bones; Quit interrupting. Anyways, after I registered I thought, gee, who do I know in the medical track that I could totally share this once in a lifetime experience with? And then it occurred to me – my bestie Bones!”

“I’m the only friend you have, medical track or not,” Leonard mumbled.

“Don’t be like that Bones. So that’s why I hacked into the system and signed you up. You’re welcome.”

“Now wait a minute Jim- “

“Not hearing it, Bones! Well, I’ve got to run, you can thank me later, “ Jim smirked and as quick as he burst into their room, he was gone. Leonard sighed, “Dammit Jim, I’m a doctor and I _do not need ‘Neuromuscular Relaxation’_ ”

Away from the residential area, in the heart of Starfleet academy, Khan looked down at the PADD in his hands trying not to react to the Admiral across the desk from him. Looking at the PADD didn’t help though, clear on the screen was his teaching schedule for the next semester and his eyes couldn’t help but focus on his class, his _only_ class for the semester. So conveniently left until the last minute so there would be no way for him to request a transfer or make other arrangements.

“Problem, Mr. Harrison?” came the smug voice from across the desk.

Khan straightened up and narrowed his eyes at Admiral Marcus.

“No, _sir_ , no problem at all. If that will be all  - “ Khan knew it would infuriate him if he asked that with the calmness he really didn’t feel. Admiral Marcus turned red before barking out a dismissal.

Khan walked out the door as calmly as possible. Once he was sure Marcus wouldn’t see him, he allowed himself to frown. “ _What kind of asinine joke is this? I have advanced degrees across multiple disciplines, I have superior genes which allow me to comprehend and execute ideas at such a high level that he could never even comprehend. So why the hell is he assigning me this class?”_

Khan was halfway to his office before he determined that it would be a better use of his energy to go to the gym. He had some issues to work out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first day of class.

Jim scowled at his roommate sleeping there across the room. He couldn’t understand why Bones dropped out of this veritable _taco buffet_. He didn’t let it bother him too much, more for him after all – he’d been checking the registrar for the class religiously since he enrolled and _he was still the only male in the class_. He was just gearing to prove to the world that he was James T. Kirk, T for “tomcat” _not “_ Tiberius” – _thank you very much_.

After programming his friend’s alarm clock to go off in five minutes – _after all, Bones wasn’t getting away scot-free with ditching him_ – and a short walk, Jim arrived at the classroom 30 minutes early. “E _arly worm attracts the hottest chicks, or so they say_ ”

He was so excited.

Not so excited, Khan glared at the clock in his office. He had spent the last week and a half preparing his curriculum for this class – _“it could hardly be called a class”_ – and it was now approaching the time to get up and get it over with. He was not looking forward to the next hour and a half.

In hardly any time all, Khan found himself in front of the classroom door. The class was scheduled to begin in a few minutes. Of all the classes Admiral Marcus had forced him to teach, this was the smallest so far with 14 students. Centering himself, Khan walked through the door, giving the classroom a cursory sweep. The students mostly seemed to be settling into the desks and retrieving their PADDs – all except for one. A blond Terran with the bluest eyes he had ever seen on a Terran was slouched back in a desk chair, not-so-inconspicuously checking out his classmates, and he didn’t mean that in the academic sense either. “Wonderful,” he thought, “not only am I given this insult to my intelligence of a class, I’ve been reduced to a babysitter for a _horny primate_.”

The soft chime that signaled the beginning of class rang and Khan walked to the center stage of the room. “I would suggest you do not get comfortable in those chairs. I am Professor John Harrison; you are permitted to call me Professor Harrison, or just Professor. Transmit your attendance code at this time. Welcome to Heath 117 - Neuromuscular Relaxation.”

When the professor entered the classroom, Jim hadn’t been paying much attention, he figured he had all of class to check her out; after all, it was only respectful to keep your eyes on the teacher in class. So he was determined to check out all his classmates before the chime. So when a decidedly _male_ voice interrupted him, he was shocked.

Slightly panicking, Jim went to his PADD and pulled up the class registrar again. Displayed back to him was ‘Health 117, Neuromuscular Relaxation, J. Harrison’. Jim mentally cursed; he never did look up the professor and had made an ( _erroneous)_ assumption. Transmitting his attendance code, Jim turned back to Professor Harrison, trying to keep the disappointment off his face.

He was doing well until he heard the student next to him whisper, “He’s so hot”, to the lovely lady to her left. The guy didn’t even have the decency to be less attractive than him. Jim’s attention was pulled back from his musings at the sound of the professor’s voice.

“Now that everybody has checked in, I have just transmitted the syllabus to your PADDs. We will spend the next half hour reviewing the syllabus and then we will begin with the first lesson on the history of neuromuscular relaxation. Now, to facilitate a relaxed atmosphere, we will be conducting this class on the floor. Push back all the desks and arrange yourselves into a circle.”

Jim raised an eyebrow and grinned, at least this time he’d be closer to the ladies. Until he noticed that all the ladies were subtly vying to sit next to the professor and _not_ to him. “ _What the fuck is up with this class,”_  passed through Jim’s mind, in the end Jim ended up sitting directly across from the professor, the furthest point away from him, and Jim didn’t even end up there by design.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've picked a bad time to be inspired to write (busier than normal next two weeks). Next update will not be until next weekend.


	3. Chapter 3

Jim grinned as he changed into his Starfleet Academy issued light exercise uniform. It was light, flexible, breathed well, and, most importantly, made him look _damn_ good. Checking out his left side and then turning around to look at his right side, Jim evaluated himself in the mirror. “Today,” he thought, grinning smugly at his appearance in the mirror, “Today will be _fucking awesome_.”

In a half awake southern drawl, Bones grumbled at Jim, “Don’t you have a class you need to get into uniform for?”

Jim turned and mock glared at Bones, “Don’t be jealous of my perfect body.” Lightening his tone, Jim continued, “Besides, Bones, this _is_ required uniform.”

Bones scrunched his face as he tried to process that thought. After a few moments, Bones scowled and with an incredulous tone, “For that neuromuscular class?”

“Yep,” Jim grinned, popping the ‘p’, “it was the best part of the ten page syllabus!”

Turning back to the mirror for one last check, Jim grinned as Bones muttered under his breath, “Ten pages for Neuromuscular Relaxation? Better you than me, kid”

Grabbing his bag and his PADD, Jim walked out the door and headed to class, he couldn’t wait to see his smokin’ hot classmates dressed in _their_ light exercise uniform. Not to say that the standard uniforms hid the curves, but the light exercise – well, there was a reason why he took the Advanced Tactics class with Professor Wilson, and that reason was mainly because it was the only section of that class that had a direct view of the Yoga class on the Quad.

 

“Did we luck out in this class or what?”

“I know, that uniform was _made_ for his body”

“Look at that muscle definition…”

Khan suppressed a grimmace as his … _students_ … kept up their inane chatter. It was only the second class and already everybody in the class was salivating over him. Of course, he understood, he _was_ the perfect specimen, but that didn’t mean it was appreciated. While the topic of the class left something to be desired, it was still an official Starfleet class and as such _should be treated professionally._ The only student _not_ salivating over him was the only other male in the room, who as the conversation continued, formed a bigger pout.

With a warning glare at the chatting ladies, Khan settled into the next lesson.

 

Like the previous class, everybody was arranged in a circle. Unlike last time, they were sitting on yoga mats and in their light exercise uniforms. Once again, Jim found himself directly across from the instructor, and once again nobody was even _looking_ at him and how completely _hot_ he looked in his uniform. Overhearing snippets of conversations all focused on how hot, dreamy, and/or _fuckable_ the man across from him was, Jim scowled and settled himself in for an absolute disaster of a class.

Ironically enough, the topic of the day was common sources of stress. Jim could count the number of stressors for this current moment on one hand – nay, one finger – and that stressor was Professor John Harrison.

With each successive class, the situation didn’t improve in Jim’s opinion. The girls still ignored him and the topic – the topic was all about meditation and sitting still and Jim was just _not_ the sitting still type.

Bones was currently laughing at him from across their dorm. Jim had to ‘attend a mandatory study session for improper use of class time’ in about an hour with Professor Harrison.

“S’not funny Bones. Anybody could fall asleep in that class.”

“Kid, everybody else managed to stay awake – “

“ – _because they spent the whole time ogling him –”_

“ – what happened to you spending the whole time ogling them?”

“That’s not the point, Bones. The class is _boring_ and no amount of girls is making up for that.”

“Maybe there’s a _reason_ nobody takes the class. Jim, I asked around and _nobody_ takes that class unless they have to and _for a good reason._ ”

“Why didn’t you warn me? That has to be in the bro code or something”

Bones rolled his eyes before answering, “Every time I tried you cut me off and said, ‘Girls, Bones, _Girls_ ’ – you made your bed and now you get to lie in it.”

Jim muttered under his breath, “Apparently I get to lie in it _alone_.”

Jim flopped backwards onto his bed and closed his eyes. Minutes passed before Bones huffed, “Stop being a drama queen, Jim.”

“Okay, it’s not _that_ bad, you just know me and meditating and shit.”

Bones replied fondly, “Yeah, kid, I know.”

More moments passed before Jim turned to Bones, “You know, Bones, learning about stress reduction is probably a good thing for Captains, but it’s the _girls_ , Bones, the _girls_.”

“As you constantly mention, I am aware of ‘ _the girls_ ’”

“No, you don’t get it. I’m James T. Kirk, I can get through a boring class. But the girls, they’re all,” switching to a falsetto, “ _oh my goodness, his eyes are sooooo dreamy and that_ British accent.”

Jim placed his hand over his head and fake swooned and then turned to Bones with a serious look, “and the worst part is that I spend more time in class looking at _him_ trying to figure out what’s so great about the guy that _I’m_ starting to notice the _same things._ ”

Bones softened his expression, “Ah, Jim, I never thought I’d have to give you the ‘it’s okay to like guys’ speech after seeing you ass naked with the guy down the hall.”

Jim scrunched his face in frustration, “It’s not the fact that he’s a dude… it’s just… I don’t know Bones. It just is.”

Bones sighed, “I need to start charging you for being your psychiatrist, Kid. You should get ready to go.”

Jim sat up, “Your right, I guess I’ll catch you later.”

Jim was almost out the door before Bones called back to him, “And Jim, just let go of your ‘mass orgy during class fantasy’ and maybe you’ll start liking the class better”

Jim flipped him the bird and walked out the door, all the while muttering under his breath, “it’s _not_ a mass orgy during class fantasy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot of Khan in this chapter, but hey - next chapter is 'detention' :) Once again, I'm afraid I won't be able to post until next weekend


	4. Chapter 4

Khan sat cross-legged on a mat in the order of this office, hunched over with steepled hands, thinking. When he first was assigned this class, he knew that Marcus was punishing him. _Still_ punishing him for attempting to introduce non-standard subroutines into the Vengence’s computing system. To be fair, he was introducing them with the express intent of taking over the ship in the future, but that was beside the point. Marcus had made the mistake of bringing the discovery of the SS Botany Bay to the attention of the other admirals – as such, Marcus was unable to leverage his crew, but he still found his ways of petty revenge. But Khan would endure Starfleet because he was _promised_ safe keeping of his family and there was a five year mission into space that would be assigned in the next five years and _if he behaved_ they would load the ship with his crew and allow colonization on an outlying planet. But all this did not make Khan _happy_ with this situation.

Every class Khan endured insipid girls giggling at him and making ‘googly eyes’ at him. After more than one class he felt compelled to take a shower because their looks made him feel positively _unclean_. Khan suppressed a shudder at the thought and continued with his introspection.

There was one bright side to this class and his name was James T. Kirk. According to the Cadet rumor mill, resident slut and horn dog; according to Officer mess hall gossip, a genius with a cocky streak a mile wide and the son of the venerable George Kirk. Khan had personally seen hints of both sides in his class, with Cadet Kirk’s constant attempts to garner female attention in the first classes yet the above and beyond assignments and discussion in class. He was the only student in the class who did not lust after him and while it original gave him a sense of relief, it had soon turned into a point of contention – how could Kirk resist him? Khan did not know. But Khan watched, and when he started to notice Kirk watching him, a part of him was pleased.

A knock on the door disrupted his thoughts, but it was a welcome disruption.

“Mr. Kirk,” Khan spoke, a predatory purr underlying the name, “You are early.”

Kirk gave a sheepish grin while ruffling the back of his head in a nervous gesture. Khan noticed he looked a bit flushed – not a blush, no, but rather like he had walked here quickly. A sign that he was in a hurry to get here, perhaps even looking forward to this mandatory study session – another tingle of pleasure went through his system before he controlled it.

“Ah, you know, didn’t want to be late Professor”

“In this office, you may call me John. Please, take a seat,” Khan gestured towards another mat that had been laid out in front of his. Kirk dropped his bag and less-than-gracefully plopped onto the mat.

“Now, we need to get to the bottom of your problem in my class. You are an able student, Cadet, and I – “

Kirk interrupted him, “Prof… _John_ , if I’m on a first name basis with you in this office than you can call me Jim”

While a part of Khan was frustrated that Kirk – no, _James_ – was extending the offer, it also pleased him. One or two moments of being pleased by the behavior of those outside of his family group were permissible, even expected. However at this point James had invoked this feeling in him far too often. Khan would need to think on this later – when he didn’t have James in front of him, a curious mixture of expectant and nervous – Khan decided he had probably waited too long to reply in order to get that expression.

“Very well, _James,_ ” Khan continued, holding off James building protest, “I do not use ‘nicknames’, it is your proper name or Cadet, understand?”

“Yes, sir – John,” Kirk replied, changing his sir to John mid-speech at the glare Khan sent towards him.

“Now let’s continue. Your performance on the academic portions of the class are exemplary, however you have not been able to reach a proper mind space in class which has culminated in your inability to maintain optimal awareness in class, most recently observed in your falling asleep in class…”

 

Jim – Jim was in sweet, sweet tortuous _hell_. After leaving Bones in their dorm, he had raced towards Harrison’s office, more to work off the frustration Bone’s parting comment had on him than anything else. Jim didn’t _do_ heartfelt confessions and that conversation was too close for comfort. Before he knew it, he had been at Harrison’s office. He didn’t even think about checking the time, so when he learned he was early, he was a bit embarrassed – nobody was _early_ for pseudo-detention.

As Harrison – or rather, _John_ as he was told to call him, kept talking, Jim couldn’t help but notice how small the office was, or how smooth John’s voice was, or how great he looked in black. Before his thoughts could turn preteen-girl-obsessing-over-the-football-star, John interrupted.

“James, pay attention. This is precisely your problem in class”

Jim felt his cheeks turn red, “Sorry, John…” Jim hesitated and then turned his head to look at the wall, “It’s just sitting around never really clears my mind”

“We’ll cover methods of active meditation in the last weeks of class; however you will still need to master non-active methods in order to gain a deserving grade within the class”

Jim watched as John moved into a ‘thinking pose’ and he couldn’t help but admire the figure he struck, like he was solving all the world’s problems and not just thinking of ways to help him in class.

So when John asked him to turn around assume the position, Jim was momentarily struck back before he blushed and stuttered, “Ex-Excuse me?”

“Please turn and face the wall and then rearrange yourself in our standard meditation pose”

More than a little bit embarrassed – _“Stupid, stupid, Jim!! Head out of gutter” –_ Jim turned around and went into the meditation pose they learned in class.

John spent the rest of the time talking him through to no avail and Jim was flustered beyond belief. In class he was use to facing John, but here John was behind him and it put him on edge. By the time John dismissed him, Jim exhaled a mental sigh of relief until –

“I will see you tomorrow at 18:00 hours.”

Jim sent a confused look towards John, “What? I thought this was just for today?”

John raised an eyebrow, “I’m sorry to presume, I thought you were committed to this class. We made some progress in this session, but there is still much to be done in order to fulfill your potential in this class. If you’d rather not….”

Jim didn’t know what possessed him, he didn’t _feel_ like he made any progress, but he replied, “Oh, right, sure… 18:00 tomorrow” and with that he beat a hasty retreat. Nobody had ever _flustered_ him to this degree and a part of him couldn’t wait until the next time he saw John.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, there was a nod to the Shower of Doom in there - did you catch it? It was kind of subtle... but I would probably take a Shower of Doom if I were trying to wash away googly eyes. Sorry about taking two weeks for this update. Also bad news in that I don't know how often I'll be able to update - so no definitive "I'll update on this day" (sorry!!). Hope you enjoy this chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

‘Yeah, this isn’t awkward _at all_ ,’ Jim thought the next time he was in class. He felt a little off kilter after the pseudo-detention, and really, he never thought taking a class on meditating would cause so much confusion – after all, wasn’t it some sort of path to mental wellbeing and enlightenment?

It was like nothing could go right today, too – this morning the dorms had a power outage that affected main systems, his alarm never went off, and the doors wouldn’t open unless you were super human – _‘or happened to have a nifty crowbar stashed in your closet...’ –_ and really, why Bones of all people had a crowbar stashed in their closet was something that Jim wasn’t really keen on finding out. So he was late to class and everybody’s eyes were on him – _everybody’s’_. Even the holos on the walls with people in various meditation poses were looking at him. It was creepy and awkward – ‘ _and maybe I should have just stayed in bed today_ ’ except for the fact that he didn’t want to – miss class? No… he’s missed classes before; disappoint John? … No… No, it must be because he didn’t want to miss out on the girls. ‘ _Yeah, the girls – that’s why I rushed to class_ ’. Jim was in denial.

When James appeared in the doorway, all flustered, Khan had to hold back a physical reaction. A _very_ physical reaction he hadn’t had towards somebody since he’d been awoken. Of course, Khan knew that James was sweaty and flustered probably from running across campus, but he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d look like that in other _physical_ situations. Mentally putting himself back on track, Khan watched as James set out his mat and settled.

Pulling the class’s attention back to himself, this had nothing to do with the girls staring at James and everything to do with getting the class back in order, Khan continued with the lesson.

Of course, it wasn’t that easy – Khan could process several strings of thought at once and so multitasking was the norm – Khan couldn’t help but notice Cadet Simmons eyeing James. When he saw it, Khan felt a combination of jealousy, possessiveness, and anger. Anger he was used to, possessiveness he was used to, but _jealousy_ – Khan needed to meditate on it.

When the class turned to the practical, instead of observing from his spot as he usually did, Khan centered himself and tuned himself inwards. Time passed around him and he let it flow by his awareness, and when he opened his eyes – he _knew_. Somehow, and for some reason, he was infatuated with James Kirk.

Turning to survey the class, he noticed that everybody was still in a meditative trance, they looked so peaceful. He settled his gaze on James and he thought – he thought about the repercussions – on James, on his family, on everything.

With 15 minutes left in the class, Khan brought the group out of their meditations and watched them clear up their areas. As he was about to walk over and talk to Jim, he saw Cadet Simmons make her way over. Khan was not pleased.

Jim wasn’t pleased either. While it had taken him longer than normal to fall into a trance, and really – he felt like he was just sitting around with his eyes closed for most of the time, but he was able to calm down and reach some sort of zen – even if it was just the calming of his heart and the lack of pressure from everybody staring at him.

So when John – _‘and his singularly delicious voice’_ – brought them out, Jim was pretty pleased with himself, ‘ _Maybe John was right, there was some improvement’_.

As Jim cleaned up his area – rolling up his yoga mat and putting his PADD back into his bag, he felt a tap on his shoulder. His first thought was that it was John – but upon turning around and seeing one his of classmates – Veronica? Vantra? Virginia? – he was a bit disappointed and he didn’t really know why.

Burying his disappointment with flirtation, Jim turned on a grin, “Hey… what’s up, buttercup?”

The girl – and really, he _should_ know her name, he did memorize the roster, but for some reason he just really didn’t care what it was – smiled, “You’re Kirk, right? James Kirk?”

Jim nodded, “Yes, ma’am. How can James Kirk help you today?”

“Would you like to get together and study tonight?”

Jim knew what she was really asking, and Jim couldn’t help but wonder – why now? All the ladies hadn’t even looked twice at him this entire class and _now_ he was getting attention? Normally he wouldn’t even care, but Jim could feel John’s eyes on his back and he couldn’t help but feel guilty he was even talking to _one of his classmates_.

Scratching the back of his head, Jim replied, “Ah, sorry, no can do. I’ve got plans.”

The girl pouted, “Aww, surely you can cancel them? For me?”

Before Jim could figure out how to respond, John interrupted, “Cadet Simmons, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but Cadet Kirks ‘plans’ are with me. If you require further assistance in this class, you can visit during office hours or schedule an appointment with myself or at the health center with one of the certified instructors.”

As – apparently Cadet Simmons – walked off, Jim turned to John, “What did you have to do that for? It sounds like we’re going on a date or something!”

“I’m sorry, were we not? I’ll see you at 1800 hours,” and with that, Jim watched as John dismissed the class and walked out the door.

Jim stood there confused, his brain temporarily stopped as he processed what John just said. When he became aware of his surroundings again, he was alone in the classroom.

“But… I… study session….,” Jim stuttered out, confused – then blushed because ‘ _oh my god, it’s a date and I’m starting to act like a teenage girl’_

Squaring his shoulders, Jim raced out of the room – he needed Bones… and alcohol… but mostly Bones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments and kudos :) Our intrepid duo are finally getting a clue by four to the head :) Though Jim is still sort of in denial... just a tiny bit.


End file.
